


Why I Smile

by Cocopops1995



Series: Are We All Lost Stars (Shiro Week 2017) [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Gen, Shiro Week 2017, black lion - Freeform, blackpaladinweek, voltron/ batfam au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:39:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cocopops1995/pseuds/Cocopops1995
Summary: Dick finds out about about Shiro's bond with the Black Lion.





	Why I Smile

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Batganes au! You can find more of it on my tumblr @noisypaintersong, just search my 'batganes' tag. This particular fic takes place between the events of this post: https://noisypaintersong.tumblr.com/post/165876595228/ok-but-shiro-and-ryou-totally-tell-the-other 
> 
> Enjoy! :)
> 
> Like my work? Please consider [buying me a coffee](https://ko-fi.com/W7W3KRCZ) :)

“Whoa.” Dick says, staring up at the Black Lion, “That is one big kitty.”

Taka snorts, “That’s one way of putting it. Although, technically he’s a lion.”

Ryou hums, “Giant brat is another way of putting it.”

Taka rolls his eyes, “You need to get over that.”

Ryou huffs and crosses his arms, “I refuse.”

“Now who’s being the brat?”

Ryou straight up sticks his tongue out at Taka.

Dick laughs at them, happy to see that somethings never change. He’s been worried about them ever since Ryou’s broken explanation of what Taka in particular had been through since his disappearance. He’s glad to see that, at least on the surface, his brothers are still there, Taka especially.

“Do I even want to know?” Dick asks.

“Ryou’s just mad that Black won’t let him take pieces of him apart to see how he works.” Taka says, bumping Ryou’s shoulder with his own.

Ryou pouts, “I would put him back together again. Like I always do.”

“Wait, Black won’t let him? You mean the giant metal cat over there?”

“Yeah. They’re sentient.” Taka answers.

“And it just talks to people?” 

“Nah, the brat only likes talking to Taka.” Ryou says.

Taka rolls his eyes at his Ryou again before turning back to Dick. “It’s kind of complicated, but the basics of it is that each lion chooses a specific pilot and makes a bond with the pilot based on certain attributes that it shares with them. Black’s bonded with me.”

“They have telepathic conversations.” Ryou adds. 

Dick stares at them for a moment and then shrugs. “Sure, why not. If Dami can adopt a dragon, then Taka can make a mental connection with a giant space cat. It’s cool.”

The twins turned to stare at him.

“Oh, yeah. Dami adopted a dragon. A legitimate winged, fire breathing animal that he flies around on.”

“What the heck, how long have I been gone? It can’t have been more than a few months!” Ryou exclaims.

“A lot can happen in six months, bro.” 

“Tell me about it.” Taka says with a tired sigh. At Dick’s glance he added, “I went from escaped prisoner to a defender of the universe within the space of a day, so.” he shrugged.

Dick raised an eyebrow, “Well, you were always an overachiever.”

Taka snorts, “Look who’s talking.” 

Ryou bumps into Dick’s shoulder, “He’s got you there, big bro!”

Dick shrugs, “Wasn’t gonna deny it. So how fast can this giant space cat of yours fly?” he asks, “Doesn’t look very aerodynamic.”

A grin spreads over Taka’s face, “I’ll have you know that Black took that as a challenge.”

Dick matched his brother’s grin, “Oh did he now?”

Ryou sighed, “There’ll be no living with Black after this.” then he activated his comm. “Hey Allura, my big brother thinks the Black Lion is slow so now he and Taka are going to prove him wrong. So they’re about to go for a joy ride.” 

“Very well.” The Princess’s voice sounded from his comm a moment later, sounding amused, “It will be a while yet before we’re ready to generate a big enough wormhole to reach earth, so they have time.”

Alright, you kids have fun now.” Ryou said.

“You’re not coming with?” Dick asked.

“Nah, I got a couple of things to work on in here. Besides, flying has always been more the two of you’s thing. Go have fun.”

“You should show Bruce your latest project.” Taka tells Ryou, as he picks up his helmet off a nearby bench. “It will blow his mind.”  
Ryou gets a wicked glint in his eyes and he grins. “I’ll record his reaction for you.”

Taka grins back and shoots him a thumbs up. “Come on, Dick. Black and I will show you what real flying is like.”

Ten minutes later, they’re shooting through space faster than Dick’s ever gone, and it’s the best thing he’s ever experienced. Even better, Taka is grinning like a maniac the whole time, obviously having the time of his life as well. 

So Dick smiles for more than just the flying. He smiles because although Taka’s had so much taken from him - a whole year of his life, parts of his memory, and even his arm - they didn’t manage to take his love for the stars and of flying. They didn’t take his smile. And Dick couldn’t be more relieved.


End file.
